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Wikipedia / Leipzig University

Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and Germany's second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence). The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption.

The university's alumni include 55 prime ministers and presidents, notably Angela Merkel who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. The university is also associated with 19 Nobel laureates, most recently with Leipzig faculty professor Svante Pääbo who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2022. Other alumni include Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Werner Heisenberg, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Theodor Mommsen, Wilhelm Ostwald, Cai Yuanpei, Edward Teller, Gustav Stresemann, Tycho Brahe, Georgius Agricola.

History

Founding and development until 1900

The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig after the Jan Hus crisis and the Decree of Kutná Hora. The Alma mater Lipsiensis opened in 1409, after it had been officially chartered by Pope Alexander V in his Bull of Acknowledgment on (9 September of that year). Its first rector was Johannes Otto von Münsterberg. From its foundation, the Paulinerkirche served as the university church. After the Reformation, the church and the monastery buildings were donated to the university in 1544. In order to secure independent and sustainable funding, the university was endowed with the lordship over nine villages east of Leipzig (university villages). It kept this status for nearly 400 years until land reforms were carried out in the 19th century.

Like many European universities, Leipzig University was structured into colleges (collegia) responsible for organising accommodation and collegiate lecturing. Among the colleges of Leipzig were the Small College, the Large College, the Red College (Rotes Kolleg, also known as the New College), the college of our Lady (Frauenkolleg) and the Pauliner-College (Pauliner Kolleg). There were also private residential halls (bursen, see English 'bursaries'). The colleges had jurisdiction over their members. The college structure was abandoned later and today only the names survive.

During the first centuries, the university grew slowly and was a rather regional institution. This changed, however, during the 19th century when the university became a world-class institution of higher education and research. At the end of the 19th century, important scholars such as Bernhard Windscheid (one of the fathers of the German Civil Code) and Wilhelm Ostwald (viewed as a founder of modern physical chemistry) taught at Leipzig. Leipzig University was one of the first German universities to allow women to register as "guest students". At its general assembly in 1873, the thanked Leipzig University and the University of Prague for allowing women to attend as guest students. This was the year that the first woman in Germany obtained her JD, Johanna von Evreinov.

During the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and first decade of 20th century together with some other German universities Leipzig University turned into one of the centers of higher education for state administrations and elites of newly independent Balkan states (Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia) educating over 5,500 students from the region in 1859–1909 period.

Until the beginning of the Second World War, Leipzig University attracted a number of renowned scholars and later Nobel Prize laureates, including Paul Ehrlich, Felix Bloch, Werner Heisenberg and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.

Nazi period

Under Nazi rule many degrees of Jews were cancelled. Some were later reinstated as Karl-Marx University degrees by the GDR. Noteworthy Nazis, such as Max Clara (chair of anatomy) taught at the university and were appointed to positions with great authority.

The university was kept open throughout World War II, even after the destruction of its buildings. During the war the acting rector, Erich Maschke, described the continuation of the university in a memo on 11 May 1945, announcing the vote for a new rector:

By the end of the war 60 per cent of the university's buildings and 70 per cent of its books had been destroyed.

The university under the German Democratic Republic

The university reopened after the war on 5 February 1946, but it was affected by the uniformity imposed on social institutions in the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948 the freely elected student council was disbanded and replaced by Free German Youth members. The chairman of the Student Council, Wolfgang Natonek, and other members were arrested and imprisoned, but the university was also a nucleus of resistance. Thus began the Belter group, with flyers for free elections. The head of the group, Herbert Belter, was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The German Democratic Republic was created in 1949, and in 1953 for Karl Marx Year the university was renamed by its government the Karl Marx University, Leipzig after Karl Marx. In 1968, the partly damaged Augusteum, including Johanneum and Albertinum and the intact Paulinerkirche, were demolished to make way for a redevelopment of the university, carried out between 1973 and 1978. The dominant building of the university was the University Tower (now City-Hochhaus Leipzig), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.

After the reunification of Germany

In 1991, following the reunification of Germany, the university's name was restored to the original Leipzig University (Alma mater lipsiensis). The government also funded a new Faculty of Sport Science with the reunification, absorbing the facilities and programs of East Germany's premier sports university Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK).

With the delivery of the University Tower to a private user, the university was forced to spread some faculties over several locations in the city. It controversially redesigned its historical centre at the Augustusplatz. In 2002, Behet Bonzio received the second prize in the architectural competition; a first prize was not awarded by the jury. A lobby with partial support of the provincial government called for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Church and Augusteum. This caused the resistance of the university leadership, the majority of the students and population of Leipzig. On 24 March 2004 a jury chose a design by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, which was well received by almost all parties. He recalls the outer form of the St. Paul's Church (today called Paulinum) and Augusteum, and abstracted the original building complex. Renovations began in the summer of 2005.

In 2008 the university was able to prevail in the nationwide "Initiative of Excellence" of Germany and it was granted the graduate school "BuildMoNa: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects". In addition, the university was able to receive grants from the Saxon excellence initiative for the "Life" project – a project that tries to explore common diseases more effectively. Also in 2008 the "Bach Archive" was associated with the university. In 2009, the Leipzig University celebrated its 600th anniversary with over 300 scientific and cultural lectures and exhibitions, reflecting the role of the university's research and teaching from its beginning.

Campus

The university's urban campus comprises several locations. All in all, the university is spread across 38 locations in Leipzig. The main buildings in the city center (district Mitte) are still located on the same land plots as the earliest university buildings in 1409. The university's buildings in the center of Leipzig underwent substantial reconstruction from 2005, the new university's main building being drafted by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. The estimated total cost for the renovation project is 140 million euros. The new buildings were scheduled to be completed in 2009/2010, in time for the university's 600th anniversary celebrations.

Besides the faculties and other teaching institutions, several other bodies serve the university: the University Library, a university archive and administration, numerous museums (e.g. the Museum for Music Instruments and the Museum of Ancient Egypt) and the university hospital. The university's Leipzig Botanical Garden, the second-oldest botanical garden in Europe. was established in 1542. The university's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving pianos built by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the piano's inventor. Five other Cristofori instruments are included in the museum's collections.

Key Central institutions of the university are

  • Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine

  • Career Service

  • German Institute for Literature

  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

  • Higher Education Didactics Centre Saxony

  • Kustodie (Art Collection)

  • Leipzig University Music

  • Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics

  • Research Academy Leipzig

  • Language Centre

  • Studienkolleg Sachsen (The university's pathway and entrance examination provider)

  • Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine Leipzig

  • University Archive

  • University Library

  • University Computer Centre

  • Centre for University Sport

  • Centre for Teacher Training and School Research

  • Centre for Media and Communication

Library

The University Library of Leipzig was established in 1543. It is one of the oldest German university libraries and it serves as a source of literature and information for the Leipzig University as well as the general public in the region. Its extensive historical and special collections are nationally and internationally recognized. The library consists of the main building "Bibliotheca Albertina" and forty branches situated near their respective academic institutions. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals. Collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins.

The Apel Codex, a manuscript of 16th century music, is housed in the Leipzig University library, as well as the Papyrus Ebers.

The Leipzig University Library also owns parts of the Codex Sinaiticus, a Bible manuscript from the 4th century, brought from Sinai in 1843 by Constantin von Tischendorf. Papyrus Ebers is the longest and oldest surviving medical manuscript from ancient Egypt, dated to around 1600 BC. The Codex contains large parts of the Old Testament and a complete New Testament in ancient Greek, and is one of the most important known manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament and the New Testament. It is the oldest fully preserved copy of the New Testament.

The Oriental Manuscripts of the Leipzig University Library are around 3,200 oriental manuscripts.

Some of the University Library locations in Leipzig are:

  • Bibliotheca Albertina at Beethovenstraße 6

  • Campus Library at Universitätsstr. 3

  • Library of Deutsches Literaturinstitut at Wächterstr. 34

  • Library of Arts at Dittrichring 18–20

  • Library of Musicology at Neumarkt 9–19

  • Library of Law at Burgstr. 27

  • Library of Medicine at Johannisallee 34

  • Library of Medicine at Käthe-Kollwitz-Str. 82

  • Library of Veterinary Medicine at the Tierkliniken 5

  • Library of Biosciences at Talstr. 35

  • Library of Chemistry and Physics at Johannisallee 29

  • Library of Earth Sciences at Talstr. 35

  • Library of Geography at Johannisallee 19

  • Library of Archaeology, Prehistory and Ancient History at Ritterstr. 14

  • Library of Oriental Studies at Schillerstr. 6

  • Library of Sports Science at Jahnallee 59

In addition to the university library, one of the two centers of the German National Library is based at Leipzig, the collections of which are open to use for academic research.

Faculties

The original four facilities were the Faculty of Arts, Theology, Medicine, and Law. As of November 2021, the university comprises the following 14 faculties with institutes and centers associated with each one.

  1. Faculty of Chemistry

  2. Institute of Analytical Chemistry

  3. Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry

  4. Institute of Chemical Technology

  5. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry

  6. Institute of Organic Chemistry

  7. Wilhelm Ostwald Institut of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

  8. Faculty of Economics and Management Science

  9. Institute of Accounting, Finance and Taxation (IUFB)

  10. Institute of Building Design and Management (IGB)

  11. Institute of Business Education and Management Training (IFW)

  12. Institute of Economic Policy (IWP)

  13. Institute of Empirical Economic Research (IEW)

  14. Institute of Information Systems

  15. Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management (IIRM)

  16. Institute of Insurance Science (IVL)

  17. Institute of Public Finance and Public Management (PFPM)

  18. Institute of Real Estate Management (IIM)

  19. Institute of Service and Relationship Management (ISRM)

  20. Institute of Theoretical Economics (ITVWL)

  21. Institute of Trade and Banking (IHB)

  22. Institute of Urban Development and Construction Management (ISB)

  23. Faculty of Education

  24. Institute of Educational Sciences

  25. Institute of Pre-Primary and Primary Education

  26. Institute of Special and Inclusive Education

  27. Faculty of History, Arts and Regional Studies

  28. Department of History

  29. Institute of African Studies

  30. Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies

  31. Institute of Anthropology

  32. Institute of Art Education

  33. Institute of Art History

  34. Institute of East Asian Studies

  35. Institute of Egyptology

  36. Institute of Musicology

  37. Institute of Oriental Studies

  38. Institute of South and Central Asian Studies

  39. Institute of the Study of Religions

  40. Institute of Theatre Studies

  41. Faculty of Law

  42. Ernst Jaeger Institute of Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Law

  43. Institute of Broadcasting Law

  44. Institute of Energy and Regulatory Law

  45. Institute of Environmental and Planning Law

  46. Institute of Foreign and European Private and Procedural Law

  47. Institute of German and International Law of Banking and Capital Markets

  48. Institute of International Law

  49. Institute of Labour and Social Law

  50. Institute of Law and Politics

  51. Institute of Public International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law

  52. Institute of Tax Law

  53. Institute of the Foundations of Law

  54. Institute of the Legal Profession

  55. Faculty of Life Sciences

  56. Institute of Biochemistry

  57. Institute of Biology

  58. Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology

  59. Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science

  60. Institute of Computer Science

  61. Institute of Mathematics

  62. Faculty of Medicine

  63. Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology

  64. Centre for Clinical Trials Leipzig

  65. Centre for Environmental Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology

  66. Clinical Pharmacology

  67. Experimental Centre of the Faculty of Medicine

  68. General Medicine Unit

  69. Heart Center Leipzig GmbH

  70. Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS)

  71. Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics

  72. Institute of Anatomy

  73. Institute of Biochemistry (medicine)

  74. Institute of Legal Medicine

  75. Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology

  76. Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health

  77. Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases

  78. Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research

  79. Karl-Sudhoff-Institute of History of Medicine and Science

  80. LIFE Forschungszentrum für Zivilisationserkrankungen (LIFE)

  81. Neurological Rehabilitation Centre

  82. Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research

  83. Rudolf Boehm Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology

  84. Faculty of Philology

  85. Institute of American Studies

  86. Institute of Applied Linguistics and Translatology

  87. Institute of British Studies

  88. Institute of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature

  89. Herder-Institute (German as a Foreign Language)

  90. Institute of German Language and Literature

  91. Institute of Linguistics

  92. Institute of Romance Studies

  93. Institute of Slavonic Studies

  94. Institute of Sorbian Studies

  95. Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences

  96. Institute of Geography

  97. Institute of Geophysics and Geology

  98. Institute of Meteorology

  99. Peter Debye Institute of Soft Matter Physics

  100. Felix Bloch Institute of Solid State Physics

  101. Institute of Theoretical Physics

  102. Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy

  103. Institute of Communication and Media Studies

  104. Institute of Global and European Studies

  105. Institute of Philosophy

  106. Institute of Political Science

  107. Institute of Sociology

  108. Institute of the Study of Culture

  109. Faculty of Sport Science

  110. Institute of Sport Medicine and Prevention

  111. Institute of General Kinesiology and Athletics Training

  112. Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports I

  113. Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports II

  114. Institute of Exercise and Public Health

  115. Institute of Sport Psychology and Physical Education

  116. Faculty of Theology

  117. Institute of Church History

  118. Institute of New Testament Science

  119. Institute of Old Testament Studies

  120. Institute of Practical Theology

  121. Institute of Religious Education

  122. Institute of Systematic Theology

  123. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

  124. Department for birds and reptiles

  125. Department for horses

  126. Department for ruminants and swine

  127. Department for small animal

  128. Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology

  129. Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health

  130. Institute of Animal Nutrition, Nutrition Diseases and Dietetics

  131. Institute of Bacteriology and Mycology

  132. Institute of Food Hygiene

  133. Institute of Immunology

  134. Institute of Parasitology

  135. Institute of Pathology

  136. Institute of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Toxicology

  137. Institute of Physiological Chemistry

  138. Institute of Physiology

  139. Institute of Virology

  140. Oberholz Farm for Teaching and Research

Institutes affiliated with the university

Academics

Today, the university has 14 faculties. With over 29,000 students, it is Saxony's second-largest university. There are now more than 150 institutes and the university offers 190 study programs leading to Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, Staatsexamen, Diplom (equivalent to master's degree) and Ph.D.s. The university offers a number of courses in English and other foreign languages, and there are several programs which have been specially designed for foreign students. Exchange partner universities include the universities of Arizona, Oklahoma, Houston, Alberta, Ohio, and Edinburgh. Traditionally contacts to universities in Eastern Europe and the Far East are strong as well. For example, there are cooperations with leading institutions such as Moscow's Lomonosov University and Renmin University in Beijing. There are several International Master's programs: American Studies, Global Studies, Sustainable Development Studies, SEPT (MBA in SME Promotion) and one Bachelor/Master's/Ph.D. program (International Physics Studies Program) taught in English. American Studies Leipzig was awarded three international professorships: The Fulbright-Leipzig Chair for American Studies, the DAAD Professorship for American and International Studies, and the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature. It is also the home of Aspeers – Emerging voices in American Studies, a graduate-level peer-reviewed scholarly journal for American studies.

Erasmus Mundus Global Studies is an interdisciplinary, research-based Master offered by a consortium of five European universities: Leipzig University, the London School of Economics, University of Vienna, University of Wroclaw and Roskilde University. In the field of anthropology, the university is cooperating with the Leipzig Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. In 1995, the Leibniz-Institute for Jewish History and Culture named after Simon Dubnow was formed as a research institution related to the university. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few Confucius Institutes. The institute is based on an agreement of June 2006 between the university administration and representatives of the Chinese Embassy to establish a Confucius Institute in cooperation with the Renmin University and the "National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language". Leipzig University has been the home of the first German chair for Chinese and East Asian Languages in the 19th century, which later became the Institute of East Asian Studies, which still exists today (see Georg von der Gabelentz).

Rankings

Leipzig University is recognized in several university ranking systems. In the 2026 QS World University Rankings, the university was ranked 535th globally, placing it within the top 40 (32nd) nationally. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), for 2023, positioned the university in the range of 201–300 on the global scale and somewhere between 10th and 19th within the country.

The university is ranked 18th in Germany, 98th in Europe, and 264th in the world by the web-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, a ranking evaluating universities' scientific online publications.

Student life

Leipzig has a thriving student life with a large number of student run bars, sports clubs and recreational facilities for students. The student body in Leipzig is diverse, not only due to the broad spectrum of subjects at the university but also because of the other higher education institutions in the city. The Moritzbastei is the largest student club in Germany, it is part of the historic city fortifications of Leipzig and is famous for its atmosphere and large number of cultural events.

The university is home to the Leipzig Academic Orchestra and the University Choir of Leipzig. There are numerous courses offered in performing arts every semester and a dance festival is organised by students once a year. In the field of sports, the university offers training opportunities and courses in almost all disciplines. During the annual Leipzig book fair, the university library and other university institutions organise public events for authors.

Leipzig university has a large body of international students. In winter term 2017, out of its 28,797 students about 11% (3,174) were foreign students.

Notable people

Leipzig University has produced many notable individuals and noble laureates. Some famous people affiliated with Leipzig include:

Music

Theology

Humanities

Sciences

Politics

Sports

  • Birgit Fischer, German Olympic kayaker, the most decorated Germany Olympian of all time with eight gold medals and five silver medals (1980–2004)

  • Kristin Otto, Leipzig University journalism graduate and German Olympic swimmer, first woman to win six gold medals in a single Olympics games (1988)

  • Claudia Nystad, German Olympic skier, winner of six Olympic medals including two gold medals (2002–2014)

  • Tina Dietze, German Olympic rower, winner of four Olympic medals including a gold medal (2012–2016)

  • Annekatrin Thiele, German Olympic rower and winner of three Olympic medals including a gold medal (2008–2016)

  • Jürgen Gröbler, German rower and Olympic rowing coach, known for coaching ten different Olympic gold medal winning teams (1972–2016)

  • Anett Schuck, German Olympic rower and winner of two Olympic gold medals (1996–2000)

  • Kristina Mundt, German Olympic rower and winner of two Olympic gold medals (1988–1992)

  • Luz Long, German Olympic long-jumper and silver medalist, noted for his sportsmanship and his friendship with Jesse Owens

  • Uwe Ampler, German Olympic cyclist and gold medalist

  • Angelika Bahmann, German Olympic rower and gold medalist

  • Anna-Maria Müller, German Olympic luger and gold medalist

  • Jan Schur, German Olympic cyclist and gold medalist

  • Sven Tippelt, German Olympic gymnast and three-time Olympic medalist

Notes

See also

References

Literature